A challenge in the design of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) is allocating the available screen space amongst the various components of the GUI. For example, in a web browser, various components, such as the status bar, navigation bar, and toolbars, compete with the webpage display area for screen space.
A current trend in web browser GUIs is the proliferation of client assistants or toolbars that add functionality on top of the functionality offered by the web browser. These toolbars offer features such as performing searches on search engines, blocking pop-up advertisements, automatically filling out forms, and so forth. The addition of these toolbars to the web browser GUI can contribute to a cluttered web browser user interface and can take away screen space from the webpage display area.
Accordingly, there is a need for a space-efficient graphical user interface for web browsers and other browser applications.